Ms Veronica McGregor, a spokesman for the US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Ferdowsi had been invited to join First Lady Michelle Obama to watch the President's annual State of the Union address to Congress.

He will be there among other Americans that President Barack Obama wants to highlight on Tuesday night, Ms McGregor said.

When it comes to hairstyles, that means that the First Lady's new-look bangs could go largely unnoticed alongside the outrageously coifed engineer.